Tamiko Thiel
Touching, Traces
A work series exploring the intimacy of touch on mobile device screens.

The 2020 COVID Election Diaries

This work is only available as a series of 21 "mini" digital fine art prints, 14x19.5cm floated on 21x30cm Hahnemühle Baryta paper.

In the first year of the coronavirus pandemic it was thought that transmission was primarily through physical contact. We were hyperaware of the surfaces we touched and of the traces that may or may not be on those surfaces. Indeed, for those alone in self-isolation, our mobile devices were the surfaces we touched and stroked most intimately and most often.

These are prints from my 2020 Election Diaries, records of my frantic "doomscrolling" on news sites and Facebook on key days around and after the 2020 election, as Trump and his GOP allies attacked the landslide win by Biden and Harris that knocked him out of office. Living in Europe, isolated from the events in the USA by time and distance, trying to make to make sense of the weird events and the weeks of uncertainty and suspense, and seeking solace in my online community of friends and media analysts.


2020-09-30 First Biden Trump Debate



2020-11-07 Biden-Harris Declared Winners



2020-11-09 Republicans Deny Biden-Harris Election Victory



2020-11-11 Trump Stacks Pentagon with Loyalists



2020-11-20 MI GOP Abides By Election Despite Trump Request to Overthrow Results



2020-11-23 Trump Finally Allows Biden GSA Transition



2020-12-04 Pentagon Blocks Biden's Access to Military Intel



2020-12-09 Supreme Court Rejects PA GOP Suit To Overthrow Election Results



2020-12-11 Supreme Court Rejects TX GOP Suit to Overturn PA, GA, MI, WI Elections



2020-12-14 Electoral College Elects Biden-Harris



2020-12-15 Mitch McConnell Concedes Biden-Harris Victory



2021-01-03 Trump Demands Georgia Throw Out Election Results



2021-01-06 Warnock & Ossoff Win Georgia Senate Seats,
Trump Rioters Storm Capitol During Biden Election Confirmation Vote



2021-01-07 Despite Attack, Congress Finalizes Biden-Harris Victory



2021-01-09 Twitter Bans Trump



2021-01-13 Trump Impeached Again



2021-01-20 Biden-Harris Inauguration



I had originally plan to conclude this series with the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice President on January 20, 2021. I couldn't resist adding images from Trump's second impeachment trial, however, since it is directly the result of the attack he supported on the Capitol Building as Congress was verifying the results of the Electoral College vote.



2021-02-09 Trump's 2nd Impeachment Trial Begins:
Video of His Calls for Attack on Capitol Building



2021-02-10 Dems Show New Videos of Attack



2021-02-11 McCarthy Telephone Call Reveals Trump Refused to Call off Rioters



2021-02-13 Majority of GOP Senators Refuse to Convict Trump